


DrabbLus Series 1: Adrinino

by universeEnthusiast



Series: The AnthoLuGy [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: M/M, and sometimes funny, gay sunshine bois being sof
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-06-01 06:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 8,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15137387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universeEnthusiast/pseuds/universeEnthusiast
Summary: A collection of short fics I posted to Tumblr about Adrien and Nino (and their superhero selves, of course).The first four are NOT inherently connected, but they could be read as such if that's what you'd like! I'm putting them in order of a loose narrative because I realised I could do that and things are always more fun when they're organised.the rest are standalone





	1. Practice

“How do you make out?”

Marinette didn’t have time after the words processed in her head to avoid spitting out her drink, but she did at least manage to aim it away from her friends.

“Oh no, Marinette, are you okay?” Adrien turned his attention to her as if he hadn’t just asked the most stunning question she’d ever heard.

“What do you mean ‘how do you make out’?” Nino asked him with an incredulous frown.

“I’ve never done it,” Adrien put his hand to the back of his neck as he sometimes did. “I want to know how.”

“It’s not really something you can explain with words, bro.” Nino said, giving a concerned look. “You have to, like… _do_ it?”

“Why are you asking?” Alya chimed in.

“There’s this… girl…” Adrien shrunk a little in his seat. “And I just want to know what I’m doing if I ever get the chance to…”

“Practice.” Nino shrugged. "You just gotta practice."

“Well, I can’t exactly make out with myself.” Adrien countered.

“Marinette can help you practice.” Alya smirked and Marinette almost fainted beside her.

All eyes at the table fell on her, and Marinette immediately panicked, but before she could explain that it would be fine for Adrien to ask that of her and that she was just nervous, he put his hand on her arm and said:

“It’s okay, Marinette.” he smiled. “I can see you wouldn’t have been comfortable with that. Don’t force yourself for me.”

Marinette kept silent and tried not to let the impending existential crisis depose the joy of having Adrien interact with her so kindly.

“Don’t look at me, boy,” Alya immediately threw the conversation back into it’s previous focus. “You’re not my type.”

“Nino?” Adrien asked. “Help me out here?”

Nino looked at the table a moment, then took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, and then put them back on and turned a little so he was facing Adrien.

“Alright.” Nino shrugged, feeling like this may as well happen. “Just… follow my lead, I guess?”

Adrien nodded and scooted closer. Both boys began to lean in, and it was quite tense for all of about three seconds - and then their lips met.

Perhaps it was instinct, perhaps it was something entirely foreign to everyone at the table, but whatever it was that seemed to click within them made Adrien and Nino take to making out like fish to water.

There were hands grabbing shoulders and cheeks, and little noises of pleasure and surprise, and a lot of stuttered, heavy breathing.

Marinette’s jaw dropped, and her mouth remained wide open until Alya reached over to close it for her.

Alya may or may not have been timing them with her phone, but if she _had_ been, she would have known that it took precisely three minutes and eighteen seconds for someone to interrupt.

“Boys,” Ms Bustier beckoned, an amused smile on her face.

Adrien and Nino broke apart instantly, both quite red, and looking as if they’d just been smacked across the face by her voice.

“Yeah?” Nino replied to the teacher, voice kind of messed up.

“I’m happy that you… care about each other,” Ms Bustier smiled and put her hands on each of their shoulders. “And I don’t want to discourage you from displaying your affections in public, but…”

She looked over her shoulder and returned to them, speaking quietly.

“Next time, try not to be as… passionate,” she offered, stifling a chuckle. “Or the other teachers might get you in trouble.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adrien nodded.

Ms Bustier gave both boys’ shoulders a pat and walked away.

Adrien and Nino exchanged a long, unreadable glance.

“I have to use the bathroom,” Adrien told Alya and Marinette, oddly bright. “I’ll see you in class!”

Everyone at the table watched him walk away.

Nino pushed his glasses up his nose, adjusted himself in his seat and stared into the table as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet.

Alya and Marinette looked to one another and then leaned in to Nino.

“Are you-”

“Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the last word of alya's question at the end is open for intereperetation ;)
> 
> (but it could be any of the following: 'ok', 'bi', 'into him', 'dating now', 'hard')


	2. Night Life

“Don’t worry, you’re gonna do great.” Adrien tells him.

“It’s my first time in a real club, dude,” Nino wrings his hands. “What if-”

Adrien claps his hands to Nino’s shoulders across the cafe table.

“Listen.” he smiles incredulously. “You wouldn’t have been asked if they didn’t know you could do it.”

Nino is not convinced.

“You even got the Mayor to dance once, remember?” Adrien shakes him a little, aggressively encouraging him as he sometimes does. “You can do this!”

Nino is still not convinced, but he lets Adrien have a shy smile.

“It would be easier if you could be there.” he says, the smile vanishing as quickly as it came.

“I’m sorry, Nino,” Adrien lets go of him and kind of shrinks back into himself. “You know there’s no way father will let me leave while he’s hosting a merger.”

“I know.” Nino frowns. He swears (though never out loud, for Adrien’s sake) that he’s going to punch Gabriel one day.

There’s a miserable silence. Nino sips his coffee.

Suddenly, Adrien’s face lights up.

“I may not be able to make it,” he says, the grin returning to his face. “But I think I can get someone better.”

“Who’d be better than you?” Nino asks.

“You’ll see,” Adrien finishes his hot chocolate and winks.

Nino doesn’t know what to expect, but he sure as hell isn’t prepared when he finds out.

===

“Hey, Carapace?” Chat Noir speaks suddenly to him that night on patrol. It’s just them tonight. Friday nights are usually less Akuma and more… civilian trouble.

“Yeah?” he replies. He’s trying to keep his eyes on the courtyard below. There are a few drunk people wandering around (or, rather, stumbling around) that they should be watching.

“A buddy of mine asked me to attend an important show tomorrow night,” Chat says, and Nino’s heart skips a beat.

“Yeah?” he repeats, attempting not to choke on the many dangerous thoughts and questions running through his mind.

“I was wondering if you’d like to join me.” the black-clad hero turned to look at him.

It was very difficult to look away from his eyes, if Nino was being honest, and not just because they were big, glowing cat eyes on a human face.

“Well,” Carapace huffed, hoping playing it cool would be the safest option. “I might a little late, but i can probably show up at some point, yeah.”

The resulting bright smile on his teammate’s face alone was almost enough to convince him to buy Wayzz all the sushi in the city as a bribe.

===

The previous DJ was almost done on his set, and Nino was getting antsy. He looked out into the rest of the club from the wings of the stage.

He couldn’t believe Adrien had asked Chat Motherf*cking Noir to show up for his first time DJing.

“This is risky, you know,” Wayzz whispered from under his hat. “Chat Noir might find out who you are.”

Nino just kept scanning the crowd.

It was packed, at least a hundred people on the dance floor, and more littered around the outskirts of the huge hall and a few still at the bar. The brightly colored flashing lights and smoke machine and loud music blurred together in the typical club atmosphere.

Still no Chat Noir. He said he would be here, though.

Nino gets called up. He approaches the tables as the last song of the previous set dies away and he sets up some basic starting beats.

Suddenly, an excited scream from the back of the hall. The dance floor starts to shift. The dancers are making way for someone, parting like the red sea, screaming and whistling and whooping.

The spotlights (or whoever’s controlling them, Nino supposes) turn to the centre of the dance floor.

Chat Motherf*cking Noir strides forth, smirking. His eyes are trained on Nino at the DJ station. He pulls his baton up to his mouth, which, miraculously, has the same effect as a microphone. He clears his throat.

“I was told you were the best DJ in Paris,” Chat Noir says in front of the hundred-plus people present. “I believe it, but I think this crowd would love some proof.”

The accompanying wink almost murders Nino on the spot. The audience erupts in cheers and hollers, and, on auto-pilot, without breaking the eye contact he’s somehow holding with the superhero, DJ Shell plunges the entire club into a roaring, pumping song.

The music is loud, the dance floor pulses with the movement of the crowd to the beat, but Nino cant hear it. His hands are working the table’s buttons and sliders, mixing and switching songs, but he can’t feel them.

All he can seem to do is watch Chat dance.

He’s well aware of how that man can move, but it’s never been so hypnotising before. Even when he’s not dancing solo, when the other people on the dance floor start getting close, Chat is all Nino can look at.

He makes himself look down at the table and focus on his DJing, but he’s already doing everything he needs to be doing, even as he’s being distracted by an attractive man in a skintight suit. Before he knows it, his set is over, and the next guy is approaching from the wings. Nino practically runs into the bathroom.

Carapace is a lot subtler than Chat Noir, crawling up the side of the building and dropping down to the rigging from a window in the roof. He calls the baton, but his teammate doesn’t pick up. Chat just looks up into the darkened ceiling of the converted warehouse.

The lights are flashing in time with the song and as they go out in preparation for the current song’s bass drop, Nino spots a pair of glowing green eyes in the in the blackness, trained on him and him alone.

He moves along the rigging into a better position. Even once the lights are back up, strobe flickering and playing with his vision, and the music is halfway to deafening, Chat’s eyes follow him.

After a communicative nod, Carapace leaps down from the roof, and Chat catches him. He isn’t exactly sure how they manage to make it look cool, but the crowd goes wild around them anyway.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here earlier.” Carapace offers as they begin to dance.

“Sorry I couldn’t make it.” Chat replies with a smirk and a wink.

Ladybug will probably give them both an earful for it later, but they can’t bring themselves to care right now.

Right now, they’re dancing with one another, and it might be pretty different than the kind of show Nino’s used to putting on, but he’s sure as hell enjoying it just as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case it's too vague, yes, thats a reveal at the end ;)
> 
> also wayzz's food being sushi is like... turtles eat seaweed and fish? kinda thing? so like... yeah i like to think wayzz eats tuna sushi. of course its probably Actually something else in canon but. yeah


	3. Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i switched the titles of this one and the next piece because they fit better, just in case anyone who saw the tumblr posts comes here and wonders
> 
> anyway enjoy!!

“Miraculous Ladybug!” Ladybug called from the roof of the building next to them.

Chat Noir, clinging to Carapace’s arm at the wrist where it rested over his shoulders, tore his gaze from his Lady to his green-clad partner’s face.

The Cure washed over them and Chat felt infinitely better. He let himself smile weakly as Ladybug waved and dissapeared. The lack of routine fist bump was understandable, since it was probably about four am by now, and she was about to detransform, and was probably tired. Chat looked back to his other teammate, prepared to give his arm back, and then he realised that Carapace was laughing.

It was a nervous laugh that turned to a relieved one, and Chat felt compelled to join, if weakly. Carapace then dropped to a sitting position, pulling Chat with him.

Ignoring the way his tailbone twinged as it hit the rooftop, Adrien looked to his partner with shock.

“Sorry, dude,” Carapace huffed through a half smile, squeezing Chats shoulders briefly before retracting his arm and burying his face in his hands. “I, uh… I just need a second here…”

The Turtle Hero took in a deep, shaky breath behind his palms. The Cat Hero beside him was more than a little worried.

“Nino?” Chat whispered, hand raised as if he wanted to do something, but unsure as to what. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Carapace answered, muffled voice breaking and making Adrien’s heart do the same. “It’s just… just a lot sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Chat swallowed. “Is there anything I can do?”

Carapace’s hands fell away from his face and Adrien saw the familiar golden eyes of his best friend, a little wet with potential tears, but still as soft and kind as ever. Nino smiled warmly at him, sniffed and wiped his nose, and huffed a little.

“You do enough already, dude,” Carapace sniffed again, chuckling. He had to admit, the wide kitten eyes on his worried partner’s face were incredibly endearing.

“Are you sure?” Adrien whispered.

“Yeah,” Carapace took another deep breath. “It’s okay. I’m good now.”

Chat really didn’t look convinced, eyes searching his face and hand still hovering in the air between them.

“C'mere,” Nino huffed and reached out and hugged him.

Adrien instantly began purring, which prompted his face to go bright red under the mask.

“You’re too cute, bro,” Carapace shook his head.

Chat, flush with embarrassment, buried his face in the green hoodie of Nino’s suit, still purring. Nino, sleep deprived and feeling especially affectionate, kissed his cheek.

Stunned green eyes snapped to him, and they stared at one another for a moment as their tired brains registered what was happening.

And then they kissed for real, once, softly and slowly, and broke apart, and went back to staring.

Once they noticed the sky changing color, warning of the encroaching dawn, their heads seemed to reenter hero mode.

“We should go home…” Chat whispered, rising to stand.

“Yeah.” Carapace swallowed, looking really unsure all of a sudden. “But... we can talk later, right?”

“Definitely,” Adrien said, perhaps too quickly, and offered his hand to his teammate.

“Okay, its a plan,” Nino let himself smile and take the offered help.

Despite knowing they had to leave, they were finding it a little difficult to turn away from one another. Finally, they managed to separate their locked gazes.

“Bye, dude.” Chat blurted.

“See ya, man.” Carapace waved.

And both green heroes leapt their different ways with red faces and wide smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3c


	4. Warmth

_Warmth_ , the first thing Adrien’s brain thinks in the hazy half-sleep of the early morning. _Find it. Hold it. Don’t let it go again._

He finds himself searching for the warmth. But its not easy to find... whatever it is his mind thinks it’s searching for, because there’s warmth everywhere in Nino’s room.

It’s in the soft fabric of the t-shirt Nino wore overnight that Adrien feels against his cheek and palms. It’s in the blankets, keeping the tangled legs beneath them toasty in the chilling autumn morning.

Its in the ambience track playing from the chipped and scratched green bluetooth speaker on the nightstand, the sound of the ocean that Nino misses so much from his hometown. Adrien loves the track, too, because it reminds him of the beach house he and his mother would visit together when he was small.

It’s in the sunbeams streaming through the thin beige curtain and filling the dull cream-colored room with golden light, even if the real warmth of the sun hasn’t quite made the journey yet.

It’s in the way Nino rolls over to hug him and mumble “good morning” into his hair. It’s in the way Adrien hugs back. It’s in the half-lidded brown eyes that catch the same gold rays of the morning as the rest of the room, while they look at him with a tenderness he only ever sees in Nino anymore.

And Nino kisses his forehead softly, and Adrien remembers the same thing he remembers every time his anxious mind gets like it did this morning for the past three years:

He’s already holding the warmth, and the warmth is holding him back, and neither of them are letting go any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know its short but its short and sweet so that makes up for it right
> 
> anyways i hope you liked all the ones ive got out so far but rest assured there will be more after this lil almost-arc bc im a Sucker for this pairing and i cant stop myself from making stuff All The Time


	5. Sunlight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this one doesnt fit with the first four, if that's what you were hoping for, sorry babes. this one was inspired by mari-monsta on tumblr

“Why are we going to a flower shop, again?” Nino asks.

“You wanted out of the house and I’m designing a line based on flowers and I need specific ones for inspiration,” Marinette told him, checking the street name on her phone. “Plus, they smell good.”

“That’s fair,” Nino nods.

They come to a small plot of land with a structure on it that seems to be more plant than building. There are saplings and hedges and flower bushes in more plant pots than Nino’s ever seen in his life scattered around the courtyard.

They find the door, bordered by a very neat looking pair of creeping vines that even Nino recognized must have taken a lot of effort to culture, and head in.

Inside is a greenhouse, but its so bursting with flourishing plants that it’s more like an indoor jungle. Marinette disappears from his side and he half wonders if she’s been eaten by a jaguar.

But he knows she’ll come find him when it’s time to go, so he may as well look around.

There’s an actual wild tree in the centre of the room. Just a genuine, fifty-something year old tree sticking right out of the ground, which has been given a little island of soil and rocks to separate it’s space from the rest of the store’s floor. Nino leans his head back to see the branches.

The afternoon sunlight is streaming through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse, but the leaves of the huge tree filter it. The entire room is cast in streams of pale sunlight speckled with the green shadows of translucent leaves.

It’s pretty breathtaking.

Nino turns and takes a step, to check out the succulents maybe, buy a tiny cactus to have on the windowsill in his apartment, but he manages to bump right into a ladder leaning on the corner of a shelf.

A man is on the ladder. Or, he was, until Nino bumped it.

Nino catches him, though, and quickly realises that the sunlight isn’t the only breathtaking view in this store.

The man in his arms is platinum blonde, with lightly tanned skin and stunning green eyes.

Nino is probably going red in the face, but he can’t feel his face right now, so he can’t tell for sure.

“I am **_so_** sorry, my dude,” Nino swallows and helps him back to his feet.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the man smiles and it rivals the sun itself, and his voice is like honey, and Nino might be in serious trouble. “No harm done!”

“Oh!” Marinette calls over. “Excuse me, sir?”

She jogs towards them and steps around the tree in the centre of the building.

“Do you know where I can find some hibiscuses?”

“Oh, of course, right this way!” the man smiles and leads Marinette toward the back corner of the room.

Nino takes of his hat and begins to fan himself with it, and walks back to the tree and tries to take a few deep breaths.

After he’s confident the blood has drained from his face, he follows them in case Marinette needs him to carry something, which happens often.

He’s right (fifteen years of friendship can’t really lie, can it?) and he ends up having to lift a pot the size and weight of a regular bass amp that’s full of pink and orange flowers and take it to the counter at the back of the store.

The man puts on a pair of glasses to work the register and it somehow makes him even more attractive. Nino gulps.

“You like working here, mister…?” Marinette asks as she pays for the flowers.

“Adrien,” the man replies. “And I started this place myself, I love working here!”

 _Adrien_ … shit, even his name was cute.

“Will I be seeing you two again?” Adrien inquires, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Yeah, maybe!” Nino answers, perhaps too enthusiastically.

Marinette is giving him a look.

“I look forward to it, mister and missus…?”

“Oh, we’re not married,” Nino and Marinette offer in perfect unison.

“Oh, sorry,” Adrien chuckles.

“Nino,” Nino adjusts the pot in his arms and offers a handshake.

Adrien clasps it firmly and Nino wonders if it’s Adrien’s hand or his own that’s burning.

“Marinette,” Marinette shakes his hand, too.

“You guys have a great day!” Adrien smiles, and Nino’s heart speeds up so fast he wonders if he’s going to go into cardiac arrest.

And then they’re heading outside and down the street towards the car.

“So, Adrien,” Marinette gives him her scheming face, a face he knows too well not to recognize the dangers of.

“Don’t even think about it.” Nino says resolutely, almost as much to himself as to her, and places the flowers on the back seat and gets into the car.

But he’s still thinking about it the next morning.

And the morning after that.

And pretty much every morning until he finally works up the nerve to go back there.

“Oh, Nino, right?” Adrien asks, pausing from sweeping and giving another heart-stopping grin. “What can I do you for?”

“I was wondering…” Nino wanted to say ‘ _if you’d like to go to coffee_ ’, but he was nowhere near brave enough for that. “If you could tell me more about those flowers Marinette bought? The hi-biscuit-ses?”

Adrien laughs. Its a bright, clear, loud laugh that makes Nino’s stomach do a flip.

“Hibiscuses,” Adrien corrects gently. “You got close, though. C’mon, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

He leads Nino to the back of the store where the other hibiscus plants sit and begins talking about flowers. About climates and soils, and leafs, and other such plant related things. Nino can’t quite wrap his head around it all, but it’s worth it just to watch him talk about them.

Yes, Nino decides, as he watches the closes thing to a human ball of sunlight ramble about phosphorous levels, he’s in very big trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sunshine bois? sunshine bois.


	6. Stage Fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thelastpilot requested this... i was more than happy to deliver :)

This is a new sensation for Adrien.

Well, okay, yes, a lot of things regarding interpersonal interaction are new for Adrien. Being cooped up in your house relatively alone for almost twenty years doesn’t exactly do wonders for your social life.

But he spoke to the other contestants before, and none of them made him feel like this.

An organiser comes into the room and asks some of the other participants to move to standby for when their turn comes to get on stage.

Neither Adrien, nor his new ‘bro’ Nino, are among them.

“You nervous?” asks Nino.

“Maybe a little,” Adrien says, telling the truth and lying at the same time.

Being on stage doesn’t intimidate him. He knows how to play the piano, he’s been playing for years, and if he had ever had a fear of large amounts of people looking at him, the modelling banished it long ago. He doesn’t get stage fright.

No, the contest isn’t what’s making him nervous.

“You can do it, man.” Nino smiles, and Adrien’s heart skips a beat. “Dead set, you might even win.”

“I don’t know.” Adrien rubs the back of his neck and takes a sip of some soda from the complimentary snack table. “I’m probably not as good as some people here.” 

“C’mon, dude, I saw you practising,” the other man says. “You’ll make it to finals, easy.”

Adrien can’t help the blush, or the tiny, silly, grateful smile. The idea that Nino was watching him play on the old piano in the rehearsal room before makes him feel more nervous than he’s ever been in his life.

He doesn’t know why.

Maybe it’s all the compliments. He’s not used to compliments like the ones Nino’s giving. He’s used to remarks about his looks, not his talents. He’s used to congratulations, not encouragements.

It could also be how Nino looks so different from everyone else he’s ever met in his life. It’s not just that all of Adrien’s fathers associates are rich white people, either, it’s also that everything about Nino is so colorful.

He’s wearing a bright green t-shirt with a big game logo on it, and a faded red hat, and a bunch of plastic bracelets that make it look like he managed to wrangle an out-of order rainbow onto his wrist.

For someone who’s entire social world has been confined to the kinds of parties where everyone wears suits and ties or a fancy gown, its a little jarring, but also really refreshing at the same time.

They start to talk about video games, and Adrien notices how Nino’s eyes light up as he tells him all about his favourite RPG.

Adrien’s seen real life solid gold, and he’s beginning to wonder if it compares to Nino’s eyes.

Nino asks him a question about a game Adrien’s played a couple of times, but they’re interrupted by the organizer calling up the next batch of contestants, Nino included.

“Aw, man. I have to leave right after my turn.” Nino puts down his cup. “It was really cool to meet you, bro.”

“If I give you my number, will you text me and tell me how you went?” Adrien says without thinking.

“Oh, shit, sure!” Nino grins and offers his phone. 

Adrien enters his number and waves as Nino heads out of the room with some of the other contestants.

He’s still mindlessly waving for a good minute after they’ve gone.

_Why on Earth is his stomach all fluttery?_

Adrien takes another sip of his soda, hoping to calm his nerves.

He finds himself checking his phone every few minutes.

He gets a notification and almost rips his pocket taking his phone out so quickly.

{i made it through!! sorry i cant be there to watch you make it through too (; see you next round man - nino)

Adrien doesn’t know why his heart is racing and stomach is churning, because he _never_ gets stage fright. 

His heart doesn’t stop pounding until he’s finished his piece and accepted the position in the next round from the judges, but at least it stops.

The butterflies start right up again when sees Nino at the next round. 

It’s then that Adrien realises that it wasn’t stage fright after all, and is, in fact, something else entirely. Something that both enthrals and terrifies him.

He also realises he’s going to have to get used to the butterflies, because by the way Nino is smiling as he’s heading over to him, they’re probably not going away any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know adrien would be a certified Mess around anyone he loved when it got down to cutesy stuff. you KNOW he would be


	7. Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an anon requested this and it was Too Cute not to do

Adrien wakes up because he can barely breathe.

He’s got half a dozen blankets on, and three empty tissue boxes around the end of the bed. He reaches for the not-empty one on the bedside table.

After he blows his nose five or six times, his sense of smell returns.

He can smell soup.

“Oh, you’re already awake.” Nino smiles quietly as he appears in the doorway. “Sit up, man.”

Adrien shuffles up and realises that his boyfriend is currently holding a bowl full of spiced chicken soup.

“Is that for me?” Adrien asks.

“No, I came to your apartment while you had the flu just to eat my soup in front of you.” Nino sasses. “No shit it’s for you.”

Adrien would blush if his face wasn’t already red from the borderline fever. He slurps the soup.

“Who’s recipe?”

“Funny you ask,” Nino chuckles, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I got it from Alya’s mom, who got it from Alya, who got it from Marinette, who got it from _her_ mom, who got it from _my_ mom when we were younger. So, I guess you could say it’s an Extended Family Recipe.”

Adrien smiles as he takes another spoonful. The warmth spreads from his tummy to his chest, but there’s the tiniest ache in it. His mother used to make chicken soup when he was sick, back when he was small, many, many years ago.

They say there’s no-one that can care for you when you’re sick like a mother can.

Eating the soup feels like a melancholy hug.

“The plot thickens, though,” Nino crosses his arms. “I asked mom for hers again, and it’s like a whole different recipe. Everyone who got it changed it a little.”

“Chinese Whispers Soup.” Adrien mumbles after another slurp.

Nino turns to look at him with the biggest incredulous smile, eyes as warm as the soup he made him, and Adrien is reminded again why he loves Nino.

“That’s what we’re calling it forever now,” Nino says. “Welcome to the family.”

“Make it official,” says Adrien between a sip and a sniffle. “Marry me.”

“Dude,” Nino narrows his eyes. “Are you… are you for real?”

“Please marry me.” Adrien manages to repeat the request before he yawns.

Soups that feel like hugs are apparently the real world equivalent of sleeping potions.

Nino smiles and mutters something in his native language and shakes his head.

“Ask me again after you’ve taken a nap, babe.” Nino kisses his forehead and tugs away the empty soup bowl.

“I loooooooooooove you,” Adrien drawls as he lies down again.

“I love you, too.” Nino leaves the door open just a crack, like Adrien’s mom used to.

Adrien smiles.

There’s no-one that can care for him like Nino does.


	8. By Your Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> requested by mari-monsta, inspired by the idea that the song “lay me down” by sam smith is the kind of way nino would feel if adrien ever experienced something really drastic like discovering his father is papillon

Chat Noir fiddles with the baton, activating several of its various functions in a specific order for no reason in particular.

It’s been nine days since he caught his father disappearing into a lair. Eight since he was told by Nathalie what it meant.

Seven since he transformed.

The sky is darkening.

Just as he feels the first raindrop, someone passes him.

It’s Carapace.

Adrien, under the mask, wonders if he’s hallucinated.

Why would Carapace be outside, transformed, after midnight, with no akuma about?

There’s no answer he can think of.

The rain worsens. He decides to find somewhere abandoned to sleep tonight.

Carapace passes again before he gets the chance.

Its almost like he’s on patrol, but Ladybug isn’t with him, and it’s not Wednesday or Saturday, either.

Carapace disappears again, but this time, Chat isn’t gonna ignore it.

“Carapace.” he calls the next time he passes.

He narrowly avoids getting drowned out by the thunder.

“Sorry, man, I’m busy!” Carapace shouts in reply as he continues on whatever path along the rooftops it is that he’s taking.

Confused as hell, Adrien waits.

He waits a good hour for the turtle hero to return.

“Carapace!” he calls, but Carapace only frowns harder and keeps going.

Chat Noir grabs his arm as soon as he’s within reach.

“What the fuck do you want?” Carapace turns on him, and it’s clear they’re both soaked.

"What are you still doing out here?" Adrien asks incredulously. "It's four am and storming!"

Carapace doesn't respond. Thunder rumbles above them.

"Why?" Chat hisses. "Why are you out here, man? You should be at home!"

“You’ve been out for a week,” the green hero accuses. “Why’s me being out here suddenly a problem?”

“No, c’mon,” Adrien shakes his head. “You shouldn’t be out in this weather!”

"I’ve gotta find him," he growls.

"Who?" Chat shakes his head. "You've been at it for hours! Who is this important?!"

"Adrien!" he yells. "Adrien's gone!"

Chat's eyes widen.

"I’ve gotta find him," Carapace says again.

"Why now?!" Chat gestures frustratedly into the rain. "You could get sick in this!"

"I don't give a shit!" Nino spits from under the mask. "I’ve gotta find him. I'll look all night if I have to."

"You should be sleeping." Chat counters. “In a warm and dry bed.”

"I’ve gotta find Adrien!" Carapace cries, voice hoarse. "Nothing else matters!"

"Why?!" Chat screeches. "Why do you want to find him so bad?!"

"Because I LOVE the guy?" the green clad hero screams, and lightning flashes behind him, illuminating his stricken form.

Chat has to take a step back.

"What?" is all he manages to croak out.

"I go to school with him!" Carapace hisses. "And he hasn't been seen in a week! Marinette is flipping the fuck out! I can’t focus! I failed my music history test because I’m that worried!"

Chat begins to feel worse than he already did.

"What if he's in shit?" the other man’s voice breaks, and Adrien’s heart just about follows suit. "What if he's hurt? What if he's dead?"

Is… is Nino crying?

"I don't even care that he doesn't know I like him like that," he sobs weakly, face steely and staring at the ground. "I'm just freaked, man! I just wanna know he's okay!"

Chat wants to comfort him, but how can he? What can he do that wouldn't give him away, or make his best friend more upset?

"Why did he leave?" Carapace is shaking, asking himself more than his black-clad partner. "Where did he go? Where is he?"

Chat steps close, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, Nino hugs him, and he swallows and hugs back.

"Doesn't he know how much we care?" he whispers. “I don’t give a fuck what happened, doesn’t he know I’d help him with anything?”

“Anything, huh.” Chat murmurs, thinking about how his own fucking father is their mortal enemy.

“Adrien could murder someone and I’d help him get rid of the body.” Carapace lets go of him, speaking quietly. “He’s worth it.”

Adrien hits rock bottom, right there on the top of the building.

“I just wanna take him home.” Carapace’s fists clench. “And not back to his dad, Gabriel can get fucked. I mean my home.”

Adrien takes a seat on the rooftop, at a complete loss. The storm is over but he’s still drenched and cold and angry and sad.

“I’ll do anything.” Nino sits down, and buries his face in his hands. “I just want him to come back.”

“Will you forgive him?” Adrien whispers, half hoping his companion can’t hear him.

“Of course I will!” Carapace replied. “I won’t ever let him out of my sight again, but I’ll forgive him.”

“You’re really set on saving him, huh?” Chat Noir says.

“Even if I’m the only person on the planet on his side.” Carapace nods. “As long as he’d let me, I’d be there for him.”

Adrien looks at Nino and realises.

He’s ready to go home, now.

“Nino,” he calls softly.

Carapace turns to him. The gold eyes are intimidating, he has to admit.

“Claws in.” Adrien whispers.

Nino’s head reels from the shock.

“Take me home.” his best friend breathes. “So we can be warm and dry.”

The next thing Adrien knows, he’s in bed with Nino in his apartment, thanking the powers that be.

Because Nino’s laying by his side, and now he knows that’s all he’s ever going to need.


	9. Sweet Tooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> coffee shop au... bc we All love those

Adrien is less than pleased.

This shoot is cursed. It wasn’t enough that it was scheduled only three hours before it was supposed to commence, and that meant he was bound to be late no matter what in this season’s traffic, but the commence time was 7 am?

And then when he got there, the equipment needed new batteries. Every single camera and laptop needs charging.

He tried to ask his bodyguard to drive him… somewhere, so he could find breakfast, but the bodyguard got a call the moment he thought to ask, so he just slipped away.

Adrien craves death, but he’s going to have to settle for a very strong coffee.

And a cheese croissant, he corrects himself, as Plagg shifts in his jacket pocket.

This shoot is also, adding to its cursed status, in a part of the city Adrien has not frequented ( ~~in the daytime… without having his life threatened… on ground level~~.), and thus, he doesn’t recognize the local cafes.

He walks into the closest one, barely awake. It’s small and empty of customers.

“What can I get for ya, man?” asks the guy behind the counter.

Adrien is completely awake now. His eyes dart to the name tag.

His name is Nino. It’s as stunning as the man that belongs to it.

“Frappuchino with…” Adrien forces himself to speak, but the early wake-up made his voice pretty croaky, so he clears his throat and tries again. “A shot of chocolate, two sugars, cream and whipped cream.”

“Wow,” Nino grins, and Adrien’s heart skips a beat. “Quite the sweet tooth you got there, huh?”

“I’m in for a long day,” Adrien sighs, his reality creeping back to him. “I’m gonna need the sugar.”

“Well feel free to come back for another one, then,” Nino hands him his order. “If you need a pick-me-up.”

Adrien drops several coins as he tries to pay and spends a good minute picking them all up.

“Sorry,” he mumbles as he wrangles them back into his wallet and turns for the exit.

“No worries, dude,” Nino smiles. “It was an interesting start to the day.”

Adrien smiles a big goofy smile in return and decides maybe he should leave before he makes more of a fool of himself.

“It is shaping up to be interesting, yeah.” Adrien sips at his purchase and immediately ascends to heaven. “Mm. I might see you later, after all.”

“Yeah, that’d be sick,” Nino says, heading to the back room behind the counter. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll even catch your name next time.”

Between that line and the sleepiness, Adrien can’t even manage to form a goodbye before he walks out into the street.

Halfway through his coffee (and halfway down the street to the shoot) Adrien realises he forgot Plagg’s cheese croissant.

As if he needed any more of a reason to go back.


	10. Pick Me Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sequel to chapter 9 requested by messofthejess on tumbl

Adrien could practically taste Plagg’s sour mood throughout the whole shoot.

Later, as he was frustratedly telling the kwami that they’d go back to the coffee shop after the shoot, and could he just stop being such a pissy little grump until Adrien could get him that croissant, an apprentice gaffer walked right past and Adrien very nearly had a heart attack (helped in no small way by the amount of sugar in his earlier drink) until he noticed the kid was wearing headphones.

After that, Adrien’s mood almost turned sour, too.

It was as his bodyguard was occupied helping the crew move a box of light equipment that Adrien managed to escape for the second time that day.

He headed back along the street to the coffee shop from earlier, and smiled as he found it.

He walked in to find it empty. It was too late for morning tea, too early for afternoon tea, and this tiny cafe didnt serve anything that could be considered lunch material.

“Whoa, hey,” Nino lit up as he laid eyes on him from behind the counter. “I’d hoped you’d come back for a pick me up.”

“Really?” Adrien asked, like a fool, but redeemed himself by forcing a smile and waxing functional again. “Well, uh, the same thing then, please, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure thing, sweet tooth,” Nino turned to the machine.

Adrien felt Plagg shift in his pocket and immediately opened his mouth to amend his order.

“Oh, and a cheese croissant, if you please,” he blurted.

“No problem,” Nino set the coffee down and opened the pastry case to retrieve one.

Adrien brought out his wallet and quickly found that all he had was a twenty euro note. It was plenty, but he felt bad for not having cash closer to the correct amount.

“Uh, you can keep the change,” he blushed.

“Ok,” Nino shrugged as he worked the till. ”But, you know, I’d really rather have your name than your money.”

“My name?” Adrien asked dumbly.

“Well, I cant keep calling you sweet tooth forever.” Nino replies.

Adrien picked up his coffee and croissant and looked back to Nino’s face. He was wearing such a warm expression and Adrien felt so silly just standing there and looking at him, regardless of how stunning he was.

“Adrien.” he told him. “My name’s Adrien.”

“Adrien,” Nino smiled. “Well, come back and pick me up anytime, Adrien.”

Adrien remembered to say bye this time, and turned for the door.

In a moment not unlike the one that occurred in the same spot halfway down the street only five hours ago, Adrien realises that Nino had been flirting.

Flirting. With him.

Using a pun, no less.

Adrien keeps walking, sips his frappuchino with two sugars, chocolate, cream and whipped cream, and decides to make that little cafe the only place in the city he will ever buy coffee again.


	11. Notice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written in honor of adrino week but not based on any of the prompts

Rena Rouge is the first to notice the ever-so-slight change in Chat Noir's behaviour.

She is an investigator under the mask, of course, but there is also the advantage of having tailed the boy for at least three years, and even from a distance some level of familiarity has been found.

Chat Noir's nighttime schedule used to consist of both patrol nights, Friday night runs, the variable rooftop routes to and from Marinette's balcony on Sunday nights, and the occasional night akuma.

But Chat stopped taking his Friday night runs a month ago, and for whatever reason, changed them to Saturday night runs.

And Rena Rouge wanted to find out why as soon as possible, and her closest opportunity happened to be tonight.

"Rena?" Chat gives a strangled yelp as she lands beside him.

"Evening, tomcat," Rena stretches a little in an attempt to show off and be casual at the same time.

"You're out-" she supposes he would have liked to finish with either 'early' or 'late', both of which are fair assessments, but something stops him. "You're… out… is there an akuma?"

"No," she shrugs. "I just felt like getting some exercise. I have to stay light on my feet if I want to keep beating you."

Instead of his usual return banter, Chat gives a weak chuckle, which tells Rena much of his current state of mind. Because this weak chuckle is not the kind given by a man who is uncomfortable, nor the kind given by a man who is tired - this is the weak chuckle given by a man who is _distracted_.

It hits the fox hero like a car.

Based on their positions, the week's recent events, and what she knows of Chat Noir, the answer is becoming clear.

A grin splits across her face.

"I've got to get back to my run," Rena tells him, but she knows he's not paying attention.

"Have a safe trip," Chat nods his head up in vague acknowledgement, mind oh-so-obviously somewhere else.

Alya manages to contain her laughter only as far as the next block.

===

Marinette is the first person to notice the slow change in Adrien's behaviour.

She'd known him for three years, of course, but she had always paid special attention to him because he was important to her.

Adrien had never exactly been a bold person, but there was a difference between being mellow, gentle and polite, and being shy, nervous and hesitant.

She is worried more than she is curious, and no-one else seems to notice, so Marinette decides to see him in study hall, just to check on him.

She doesn't make it there in time. Nino beats her to him, and she watches in awe as Adrien goes red in the face and begins to bashfully babble and blubber as his best friend joins him.

Marinette realises what's happened, and a bittersweet smile crosses her face.

She leaves them to it.

Adrien needs all the time he can get if he wants to finish his chem assignment.

===

Chat Noir is on the verge of panic at patrol meeting, but Ladybug can't figure out why.

Rena already knows, and already has a plan, and is already putting it into motion.

"Does anyone have any teammate preferences tonight?" Ladybug asks as she readies to leave the meeting place.

"I'd like to take you tonight, Ladybug," Rena does a little bounce.

"I don't see any problem with that," Ladybug smiles.

If he had been capable of sweating in the suit, Chat Noir would have been drenched by now.

"Guess you're with Shelly tonight, tomcat." Rena goads, but she's careful not to give away her pride.

"Alright, bro's night." Carapace steps away from the wall he's been leaning on. "Which way should we go?"

"You decide!" Chat offers brightly.

"Let’s go south then." Carapace nods in the suggested direction.

"Yeah, okay!" Chat nods enthusiastically.

Carapace leaps first, and Adrien, under the mask, holds back a second to hold his face in his hands. He's too eager. He has to be cool or he's going to fuck it up.

He's not in any way confident as takes the first leap after his teammate.

There's a huge smile on Rena's face as she follows Ladybug north.

===

"Oh, dude," Carapace beckons Chat excitedly as they reach their first rest stop, and, oh no, Adrien thinks, his grin is too sweet. "I _have_ to tell you what happened this week!"

"What happened?" he asks.

"I saved Adrien Agreste," Carapace says, as if it had been the best thing that had ever happened to him in his life.

"Really?" Chat tries to look an appropriate amount of surprised.

"Yeah, it was amazing!" Carapace turns to take in the view for a minute or two.

Adrien doesn't think to say anything, but it seems like he doesn’t need to.

"Y'know…" Carapace says quietly. "Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out for all this miraculous shit. But, like, the way he was looking at me when I caught him?"

Chat steps a little closer and leans against the ledge, curious. 

"Boosted my confidence a little," his green-clad teammate admits. "I know Adrien, he's not the kind of guy that's fake about things. If he thinks I'm cool… I don't think there's any higher honor than that."

"You clearly think _he's_ cool," Chat swallows as he says it.

"Adrien?" Carapace looks over at him and raises and eyebrow. "Yeah, I love the guy."

Whether it was the expression on Nino's face, the way he'd said he loved Adrien with such nonchalant certainty, the fact that they were alone together in a quiet place with ambient lighting that could have been described as romantic, or just his anxiety about it all, for whichever reason, it was at this moment that Adrien's brain ceased to function.

"You okay, man?" Carapace reaches for Chat's arm.

"Adrien's not home right now, leave a message," Chat speaks on autopilot, defaulting to a running joke from within their little clique.

Carapace does a double take and his eyes blow wide.

Chat Noir, three-year hero of Paris who should have known by now not to make such an obvious slip up - messy status of identity knowledge within the team notwithstanding - finally just panics.

He's halfway to hysterical in a second, but before he can completely lose his mind, Carapace grabs him by the arms.

"Dude," Nino coaxes. "Breathe. Breathe."

Adrien counts to five with his breaths for a minute or so. Nino's holding him the whole time.

"Fuck," Chat Noir whimpers.

"Relax." Carapace answers. "Everything's okay."

"Ladybug's gonna kill me," Chat says.

"Well, what she doesn't know can't hurt you." Carapace winks.

This prompts Adrien to giggle, and the following smile on Nino's face banishes every worry in his mind.

===

Ladybug was the first to notice that Carapace and Chat Noir were getting later and later to patrol regroups every week.

After she found them kissing on the Arc De Triomphe and surmised that that was why, she banned them from patrolling together.

She was the last person to notice that Adrien and Nino kept getting in trouble at school for the exact same reason.


	12. Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this spontaneously on a post made by buggachat because it was too good a prompt to pass up

Adrien lay on the floor, feeling about 85% dead inside and 15% hungry.

He had not been allowed to leave his room in three days.

He had not seen Ladybug since last patrol, and the next was tomorrow night. There had been no akumas in a week, no photoshoots over the weekend, and both monday and today the gorilla had been sick and no-one had been able to escort him to school, so, of course, his father didn’t let him go.

Adrien wasn’t sure what time it was, apart from that it was past sunset, and he almost didn’t care. At some point he would just get up and get into bed and fall asleep.

Or, that’s how he’d expected the evening to go.

He could never have imagined how it actually went.

A knocking came from the window, and Adrien shrieked and leapt three feet in the air, landing upright.

“Adrien?” came Nathalie’s voice from the comm by the door. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah fine,” Adrien answered on autopilot, because he wasn’t looking at the comm.

He was staring at the figure in his window.

Carapace, the turtle hero.

Without taking his eyes off the window, Adrien pawed at the remote on the couch and pressed the button to open one of the glass panels.

“Evening,” Carapace greeted, poking his head partially into the open space. “How are you?”

“I… am… fine?” Adrien said very slowly, utterly and completely dumbstruck. “Am I dreaming? Did i fall asleep on the floor?”

“You were down there for a while, so maybe?” the green hero offered. “But you’re awake right now, if that helps.”

“Uh-huh,” Adrien hummed, lips pursed and eyes wide in disbelief.

This really couldn’t be real.

“So, hey,” Carapace crossed his arms on the window frame. “Ah, a friend of yours told me that you don’t get out much.”

“I don’t,” Adrien agreed.

“And h-he was a little worried,” the hero swallowed. “And he wanted me to come check on you.”

This made Adrien do a double-take. Who could possibly have asked a superhero to come check on him?

“But, I got here and you were on the floor, so…” Carapace was very clearly nervous. “I feel like you could use some fresh air.”

“Like, outside?” Adrien asked dumbly.

“We d-we don’t have to!” Carapace held up one hand in a staying gesture. “I just figured you… might want to get out for a bit. But if you don’t, I-”

“Yes.” Adrien said before he’d completely thought it through.

The boy in his window smiled.

===

“Y’know, not many people get to see this view.” Carapace told him quietly.

Adrien sat on one of the hero’s legs atop the highest seat-appropriate beam of the Eiffel Tower.

He had, of course, seen it before. Often, in fact. The sea of light that stretched out before them, the streets and buildings of the city spiralling outwards for what looked like forever, even from so high; it was a familiar thing.

But something felt different this time, and Adrien couldn’t put his finger on what.

“It’s beautiful,” Adrien murmured.

“It is.” Nino answered behind the mask, not even pretending to mean the view.

From where Nino sat, the boy he loved most was beside him, taking in the midnight city with a look of wonder on his gorgeous face that made Nino feel like he was falling in love with him all over again.

Adrien turned to smile at him, and reflected in those soft green eyes Nino saw what may as well have been the whole world.

“It really is,” Carapace smiled back, and then added, more to himself, “You’re super lucky to see it.”


End file.
